A variety of machines are employed in off-road tasks involving multiple and repetitive movements. As just one example, a wheel loader, moveable along the ground on wheels or tracks, may be used for excavating, and may include a backhoe mounted on the machine body for such purpose. The backhoe may be the only excavating implement on the machine body, or it may be one of a plurality of implements. For example, the wheel loader may include a backhoe mounted at one end, and a loader bucket mounted at the other end. Stabilizing struts may also be included to maintain the machine in place while an operator excavates dirt or sand with the backhoe, for example.
Since the excavating portion of a wheel loader machine is typically mounted at the rear of the machine, the operator may face the rear of the machine during an excavating operation. Controls for the moving and positioning the backhoe and/or the stabilizer struts may be located conveniently to the rear-facing direction, while controls for the front loader bucket, steering, engine throttle, and brake may be located more conveniently to the front-facing direction.
Modern machines including wheel loaders typically employ joystick-based control systems for achieving desired manipulation including precise positioning of various implements such as excavation buckets. Hydraulic systems may be included to operationally control physical movements of various boom and stabilizer parts. The machines may include dual control pods, each having a joystick disposed thereon, or alternatively may have joysticks disposed on armrests. The pods and/or armrests may be spaced apart on either side of the operator's workstation seat.
Throughout the life of the machine, operators of different sizes and shapes may operate the controls. These operators may require multiple seating positions during a typical work cycle, obviously depending upon performance effectiveness and comfort of the operator. Alternately, many operators may use a variety of machines, each having a variety of interior dimensions and placements of implement control pods. As a result, consistently comfortable and ergonomic operating positions for each operator for all operating situations may be challenging to achieve. Further, because an operator may need to use both right hand and left hand control devices, and because the controls may be sensitive, the ergonomics of an operator's work environment may directly affect productivity as well as giving rise to safety concerns.
Accordingly, there is a perceived need for control devices that are more fully adjustable than those currently available. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,749 discloses a mechanism for adjusting the control console of a work vehicle. However, the mechanism employs a four-bar linkage which, although providing motion within a single plane, does not accommodate linear motion. To the extent that its movements are along only curved paths, the mechanism offers limited utility.
An improved control pod structure may increase productivity of operators using a variety of machines and/or may alleviate need to adjust positions of an operator's seat multiple times during a work cycle.